Tenants fight eviction from Halifax apartment building

First, Floyd Poulain's landlord said he was evicting him to make room for his brother-in-law. Then he said it was because of bad behaviour. But in the end he ensured that Poulain couldn't stay by throwing out his possessions and starting renovations to his unit.

The landlord said Poulain abandoned his Halifax apartment — a one-bedroom in an 11-unit building in the Fairview neighbourhood — but Poulain, 74, said he was forced out.

Sydnee Blum, a legal aid adviser working with Poulain, calls it an illegal renoviction and says the case is an "extreme" example of the lengths to which landlords will go to get tenants to leave.

Renovictions — when landlords evict tenants for the express purpose of making significant renovations — are controversial, but legal in Nova Scotia.

There is, however, a process that must be followed. In this case, it was not. The landlord would have had to give Poulain three months' notice and three months' rent as compensation.

Instead, the landlord and tenant have now spent nearly three months in conflict, and Poulain said it's not over. He said he intends to seek damages for the possessions he lost.

Neyaz Saberi took ownership of 171 Main Ave. in September. He told CBC News in a brief interview that Poulain never paid rent. Saberi later declined to answer further questions and deferred to his lawyer, who gave no comment.

Poulain said he didn't want to authorize automatic withdrawals from his bank account — a method he had never used for paying rent — but he did provide bank drafts. Saberi refused to accept that form of payment.

Poulain received an eviction notice on Sept. 26, as did some of his neighbours. They were issued DR2 forms, which indicate a new owner or a member of their family wants to move in.

Poulain was given two months to move out. He said he didn't know what to do.

"My foundation and my stability for the whole winter is being jeopardized," he recalled thinking.

That's when he got in touch with Blum, who informed him that the DR2 was invalid. The form can only be used for buildings with four units or less, and it has to be issued before the change in ownership is finalized. 

Poulain fought the eviction through residential tenancies, the quasi-judicial body that rules on disputes between landlords and tenants.

A decision from a residential tenancies officer shows that Saberi withdrew the DR2, but said he still wanted Poulain out because of unpaid rent and "behaviour issues."